Is it too late now to say sorry, Equifax?

In a lengthy mea culpa in The Wall Street Journal, the company’s new interim CEO Paulino do Rego Barros Jr. apologized for the massive data breach and Equifax’s subsequent response.

In recompense, he promised a new service would launch by January 31, 2018, that gives Equifax customers control of access to their credit data. The as-yet-unnamed service will be free for life, Barros said.

“The service we are developing will let consumers easily lock and unlock access to their Equifax credit files,” he said. “You will be able to do this at will. It will be reliable, safe and simple.”

Barros also said the company would widen the window for customers to sign up for free credit freezes through January, extending the previous November 21 deadline. Customers will also have the same period to enroll for free in its TrustedID Premier credit monitoring service.

The changes were spurred by customer demand, Barros said. They follow Equifax’s move on September 12, following consumer protests, to stop charging fees for a credit freeze. Criticism to the company’s response has been widespread, and incidents like sending customers to a fake site and poor security in the credit reporting industry don’t help. 

Equifax did not immediately respond to a request for comment.